Suggestions for an Italian wars rules set

[Dukewilliam]

Men,

As the title implies, I am looking for a rule set that covers the Italian Wars period.

I'll be running a scenario based on Ravenna 1512 in January of 2023 with some guys who love the minis but don't have a lot of experience. My initial choice was Warmaster Ancients, a rule set that I think is very good. The problem is that it has SO MANY RULES. I want to run this thing 'convention style', so quick, easy and intuitive. I don't want to spend the day looking up rules and neither and my players.

My parameters are:

Simple. I don't want a 'simulation'; I want a game where we roll dice and laugh.

Basing: My dudes are 15mm based for DBx.

Multi-player. There will be 6 of us. I've already created OoB for six different factions.

Large. Each faction has about 50 stands because WA uses three stands per unit.

That's about all I can think of right now. I appreciate anyone taking the time to respond. Let's throw out ideas and see what sticks to the wall.

Thank you,
Steve

[pogo]

1 answer, ToTheStrongest
ideal for large multiplayer games with easy rules
however, if you insist on throwing dice you will have to replay the card deck by tensiders
Alex

[SJWi]

I second TTS. Specifically designed for large games and fast play. However as well as cards you will also need a gridded mat and chits.  You can obviously make up your own chits but the mat may be more problematic. Simon Miller is meant to be producing a "Renaissance" variant of TTS but it won't be available in you timescales.   

[SteveBurt]

TTS is great but doesn’t explicitly cover the Italian wars,
Field of Glory:Renaissance is good, but might be more complex than you want

[bigredbat]

Simon Miller is meant to be producing a "Renaissance" variant of TTS but it won't be available in you timescales.   

Maybe not in our time, nor our children's time, but perhaps in our children's, children's time.  ;-)   I am working on it, slowly, but have been distracted writing more ancient and medieval army lists and co-writing a book on the battle of Ceresole 1544 which has just been published by Helion.

TtS! as it stands covers up to around 1500, and would probably work up to Pavia. It would work less well after Pavia since the arquebus and musket became more common and artillery became more powerful and mobile, which is why I've been researching and planning the renaissance set.

[Ockius]

Personally, my group enjoy Pike and Shotte. I reworked the army lists/stats quite a bit, with reference to other rules’ lists which I felt were more accurate, and we found it works nicely and gives a playable game.

We play 3 or 4 player with two sides, and we come up with a scenario beforehand and some special rules, to give it a narrative feel and a motivation for the players.

We also use 15mm figures on 40mmx15 or 20mm bases, but we put them together in blocks of several bases. There is no base removal in Pike and Shotte though.

[fred]

Regarding the gridded mat for TtS - there are options to make these - you don’t need to purchase one. Also its worth knowing that for temp grids, they grid doesn’t have to be that neat / square. And in general you just need to mark the corners of the grid, not all the lines.

1) Use small stones, clump foliage, or grit etc to mark  the corners. Takes a while to do, but is temporary

2) mark the grid corners with a cross using marker pen - obviously a permanent option

3) use terrain to mark the grid - can be tricky to have enough to do this

Also even with a gridded game, you don’t have to have square woods etc - you can have the wood slightly overlap the next box, or be within its own box.

[SJWi]

Although I would personally use TTS as (a) I know them and (b) have invested in chits and mats I also read good things about a set called "Furioso" sold by Alternative Armies who are currently offering a 20% discount. I know no more about them but may be worth investigating.

[LCpl McDoom]

Don't know if it helps to show the table set-up for TtS, but I posted up some images on BGG on how I make my 'grid'.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/169926/strongest/images

[mellis1644]

TtS is good and I enjoy that - but you will need to do some work for the forces as as mentioned the grid can be a bonus or a negative for players. It's easier for some BUT may put off players as well for the grid visibility issues. I some ways it's closer to a board game with the toys which can help for new players though.

Pike and Shoote is also good and I have used that as well. It's closer to Warhammer Ancients, which you say you like, but aimed for conventions/big games. So that may be more what you are looking for. It's fairly fast and easy to get the hang of IMO. I used 80mm wide - 2 cav, 4 infantry bases for a unit and that work well. Skirmisher are just a single 40mm wide base. But you can use whatever you like.

There are many other options but I think those are the obvious ones for me, especially if you have loads of figs - as they work great with the spectacle of a table 'full of toys'.

If you have a more modest collection then maybe have a look at Trumpth! https://www.wgcwar.com/ It's. a DBA derivative but has a points system and scales well. Just a thought as it's Plate and Handgun period should give you enough to play with. You will then give each person a force/army.

Hope this helps